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People deserve more from the political system than impoverishment – Cullinane

Speaking in response to the latest report on household income distribution in Ireland, Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane said government policy was pushing families into poverty while others were just barely surviving.

Senator Cullinane said;

“The government would have us believe we are on the road to economic recovery. That its job creation measures are working and that austerity as policy has worked.

“This is utter nonsense. We have almost 350,000 thousand people out of work and thousands more trapped in insecure, low-paid jobs with poor working conditions.

“Figures released from the Nevin Research Institute (NERI) show that over 250,000 households are now living on less than €15,000 a year.

“This is an appalling indictment of the Government and of its inability and reluctance to tackle poverty, inequality and issues around redistribution.

“The NERI report also shows that 34 percent of households have a disposable income of under €50 per week, while a third of households are living on combined incomes of less than €27,000.

“Ireland has one of the highest costs of living in the EU and to expect whole sections of our society to exist on very low incomes has political, social and economic ramifications for us all.

“Fine Gael and Labour would do well to remember that people deserve more from the political system than impoverishment.”